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Reactions After Trump Ends DACA

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On Tuesday, September 5th, the Trump administration announced that they would end DACA, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. This is a program that protects 800,000 young undocumented immigrants in the US from deportation. Now, young immigrants in the US are fighting to stay in the country. Opponents of the program felt that Barack Obama abused his executive power when establishing DACA during his presidency. It was considered by many as unconstitutional. The Trump administration stated that it is now up to Congress to find a solution with a six month deadline. Obama called the decision ‘cruel” and is begging Congress to take action.

The DACA program was heavily favored by Democrats, and left the Republican party divided. California Senator Kamala Harris stated that California will suffer an $11 billion loss if DACA is completely removed. People who are in the program may stay covered until their permits expire. However, DACA is not accepting any new applications. Protests are happening all over the country.

We reached out to a Deaf woman who is currently in the program named Selenne Martinez. Take a look.

I found out this morning that President Trump rescinded the DACA program. I’ve valued the program since it was first established by Obama. It gave us an opportunity to be successful in school. When I found out Trump announced he was ending the program, my heart was broken.

The DACA program will be gone in 6 months. This means we will no longer use the program. It’s possible we will be deported back to our countries. I don’t think I’ll be able to go back to my country, I can’t. Because I grew up in America. I love America so much. I came here when I was young. I was 5 and a half. I don’t remember Mexico or anything about it. I remember cherishing America growing up, even though I’m proud to be Mexican. That DACA program impacted my life and made a big difference. And now everything will change.

This means I will lose my job when my permit expires. I will no longer be able to work and support myself for school. My father can’t financially support me either because he’s retiring soon.

I’m sorry, I hate that this is happening.

I love the DACA program. It’s the best and it changed my life. It helped me a lot, and it helped me to go to school.

The fact that the DACA program is being rescinded, I hope those who support the Dreamers program will disagree with Trump and the executives who got rid of it. Those who rebelled and tried to prevent this from happening for us, that meant a lot to me and others, because they understand where we’re coming from. Their families, parents, grandmothers, grandfathers who migrated here and have to suffer and work hard. Wow, I really admire all of them who see the world and stand with us. It made me feel like I’m not alone in this. For the children in the DACA program that are graduating high school and looking forward to going to school and working — all of that will stop, and what are they going to do?

I’m a good person, I work hard, and I promised myself that when I came to America I would be innocent. But I was determined to focus, get an education, and graduate with a Bachelor’s degree and be proud. I would be able to support my parents and my family to provide whatever they need and provide everything.

With the Dreamers program being gone, I feel lost. We must continue to strengthen and fight. All of you standing together with us, and my friends who support the DACA program, we can work together. Fight for those children who are innocent, too. We are with you to fight this! I’m with you.

As of Wednesday, September 6th, 15 states are planning to sue the Trump administration to block the program from being terminated. They claim the move is prejudiced against Mexicans. California is planning to file a separate lawsuit since the state has a high number of people in the program.